Complication keeps Middleboro boy fighting cancer from returning home

Jesse Heikkila, 7, is battling Stage 4 neuroblastoma and was due to return home from the hospital Thursday but problems developed with his breathing machine.

Alice C. ElwellEnterprise correspondent

Friends, family, well-wishers and yellow balloons lined North Main Street on Thursday afternoon in hopes of welcoming home 7-year-old Jesse Heikkila when he returned from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

But hopes were dashed when problems developed with Jesse's breathing machine and he was not discharged.

Brockton natives William and Ann Gilbert waited patiently for their grandson, who was expected to arrive with a state police escort.

With tears in her eyes, Ann Gilbert said, "He's coming home on hospice."

She said her grandson was all packed and ready to go before his discharge was cancelled.

"Jesse's going to be heartbroken ... pray," she said.

"He just wants to go home. He's always in pain," said Jesse's uncle Peter Gilbert, who was waiting with Jesse's tiny pet dog Chico, a Chihuahua pup who was a Christmas present.

The family was hoping to try one more cure to treat Jesse's Stage 4 neuroblastoma.

But Gilbert said, "Right now he's not eligible for any other treatment. He's not well enough."

As word spread that Jesse's homecoming would be delayed, his cousin Adam Heikkila, a Navy chief petty officer on leave from the USS Tennessee, said of the family, "They just want him to come home."

Richard and Heather Swank braved the frigid temperatures, darting in and out of the library to warm up. The couple has never met Jesse, but they have been following his progress on Facebook and said in unison, "We're here to welcome him home."

Jesse's mother said she is not sure when she will bring her son home.

"He had a major setback with his oxygen requirements just prior to our planned discharge. We hope he improves tonight," wrote Suzanne Heikkila in an email to The Enterprise.